Invisible Fence Consumer Reviews

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- Talk about punishing their customers for continued service! We have had a fence with Invisible Fence brand for 12 years at our old house. Upon moving we removed the transmitter unit and wanted to reinstalled in the new house. The first horror story was when they showed up they charged us a service charge of $96 saying that it would apply to the install. Since we were an old customer they said this was standard to bill this way however if we were a new customer we would have free consultation. What a way to treat your old customers Invisible Fence!

Second when received the bill without the transmitter it was at par with a quote from Dog Watch which included a new FM transmitter and two collars. When compared the system appears to be much better as well as the IF modulates on an AM frequency. Now they have all kinds of new terms they use but at the end of the day it is still old technology and antiquated for a much higher price.

Last on the day of install and one hour prior to install we realized with IF we realized we could not find the transmitter and called to cancel. A second phone call was made to confirm. The technician showed up early and upon my wife telling him that she had cancelled he gave her a yellow ticket for $96. She stated at this time she wanted to make sure she was not being charged and the technician replied she would not be. In checking my Visa statement I was billed an additional $96. I understand mistakes happen but when I called IF they argued that my wife had called and cancelled 10 minutes before the technician arrived.

To make matters worse when the manager called back and spoke to my wife 10 minutes later he stated to her the same. She quickly told him not only did she have phone records of the call (which we did) and that she had cancelled an hour prior to the service person arriving, he did not believe her and said he would have to check records to verify. This time I got on the phone and the same manager argued trying to justify their billing policy.

Bottom line they were trying to charge for two visits each of $96, were very rude and argued in favor of their policies and technician, tried to double charge an old customer and their pricing was nearly twice as high as the competitor. We will NEVER do business with Invisible Fence and would not recommend anyone else to either. However they did end up refunding the money that was falsely charged.

YORK, SOUTH CAROLINA -- After the installation and cat training (you have to do yourself ) after they show you how, at first they stayed in the boundaries but whenever a squirrel or bird would come by the cats would go after them no matter what even after they came back and upped the shock level. Once they made it past the barrier but then were afraid to come back (animals don't know that the collars will not shock them on the return trip. This happened several times when we had to go into our woods to fetch the cats back. 2 of our cats were terrified of the collars they never went back outside.

When we asked for a refund their answer at first was we would get everything but the installation fee back. $500 out of $4,500, fine. After several calls they finally made an appointment to get the equipment back and we would only receive half of what we paid for. Their reason....we didn't train the cats properly! Even though we did. That seems to be their scam since we did train the cats properly but nothing is going to keep them from chasing other animals. They know once they get past a certain point they are home free, Beware of this company and their 100% guarantee. It was a $2000 mistake for us.

BOISE, IDAHO -- Three months after Invisible Fence of Treasure Valley installed our fence in August, a problem occurred with the transmitter. Owner Carrie ** said they wouldn't be in our area until the following spring, which wouldn't be for 6 MONTHS! I can't remember when I've had such horrible service from a supposedly reputable company. I called DOGWATCH and they came out immediately and fixed everything, including new collars and batteries for a fraction of the cost of IF. Highly recommend DOGWATCH. If I had known about IF's poor service I would never have had them install the fence. You have been warned! Stay away from IF of Treasure Valley!

MANASSAS, VIRGINIA -- I was a little weary installing one, reading all the bad reviews about Invisible Fence. But they arrived right on time with all the equipment and ready to go. Andrew ** came in was dog-friendly and understanding. Answered all our questions. He had to adjust the collar several times bc our little one turned out to be a tough cookie. But he made sure he calibrated it so that it would be just right for our dog. He will come later on to train us again for when the other puppy is ready to go out. I am so happy this was so pain-free and easy to do.

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA -- I've been a customer for five years. They had to initially come back four times to fix the install so it worked correctly and now I have an issue with my system was told it would take over a week to come to my house. Meanwhile my dog has free roam of the neighborhood and there would be $99 charge.

They attempted to fix my system and it ended up being worse than before they try to fix it. Spoke to three different individuals at the company and they all gave me a different story of why it wasn't working. This is one of the worst companies around. After spending several thousand dollars for the system I will never ever ever deal with them again. Buyer beware and they monopolize the areas they work in.

LADY LAKE, FLORIDA -- I have been using Invisible Fence for about 15 yrs. Everyone I have come in contact with have been great! Especially their customer service that takes the time to listen, then fix any problem you are having. I would not be able to have a dog without the fence. I am 84 and can let them out without fear of them leaving the yard even to go visit another dog walking by. They do a terrific job!

BRUSH PRAIRIE, WASHINGTON -- We have had InvisibleFence of Portland install the invisible fence product at three different homes over 20 years... and it has been effective for us with respect to 5 different dogs over that period of time. Most recently we needed to add a loop around the grapes we planted in order to keep the dogs from eating them. IF's service and attention to detail was fantastic, expedient and professional. Nathan, Pamela and Aaron are simply the best. No better customer service on the planet.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA -- Awesome customer service! Thanks for being patient and answering all our questions.

WILLIAMSTOWN, NEW JERSEY -- I have been using Invisible Fence for thirty years and have never had a problem. Customer service has always been prompt and efficient. I have been dealing with a sales representative from Invisible Fence of the Jersey Shore named John and he is great. Always helpful and on time.

CALIFORNIA -- I bought the Invisible Fence pet containment system last summer. I had it installed and paid $1,300. I was promised up and down that containment was GUARANTEED. We had a fence but the problem was my dog was jumping OVER it. He is very agile and he knew freedom was on the other side.

Shortly after it was installed he figured out that he could get over the fence without getting the shock if he jumped over the gated portion of the fence (they don't put the wire on moving gates generally). He got out, I called them and they came out to move the wire. Shortly after that he got out again because he could still make it over getting only the warning tone or just the weak initial shock.

They came out and increased the correction/decrease time for warning. He jumped again and this time was hit by a car. Three days and $5000 later, when he was out of the doggie ICU I called Invisible Fence again to tell them it wasn't working and my dog had been hit by a car. They were unsympathetic and took no responsibly. They blamed me saying I didn't do enough training.

Of course the training is to teach the dog where the boundaries are and he was jumping over a 5 foot fence (an obvious boundary). If you read the fine print in the contract they have countless opportunities to come "tweak" the fence if it doesn't work. Then after a year they will tell you you're SOL. They will still come out for service but for a fee starting at $90.

They came out and tweaked the fence again but my dog didn't jump the fence for about 6 months after getting hit because he was injured not because the fence worked. I know this because we took the receiver collar off for that time. My dog recently decided he was over it and jumped the fence again (twice) with the Invisible Fence collar on and "working". They also told me that I could not turn up the fence by myself (they couldn't make it out to my house for two weeks) because it required special tools. My BF figured it out in about 45 seconds and we turned it up ourselves. They don't like that because they charge you $90 just to show up at your door.

The fence may work for you but be prepared for poor customer service and make sure you get it working very well in that first year. Know that the term "containment guarantee" is interpreted loosely by them. If you have a smart, high energy dog, don't expect a quick fix.